Most Inspirational Moment
Reaching Stella Point was incredible as we were getting to the stage where we were so physically tired that we were doubting whether we could make it, our wonderful guides gave us the support, encouragement, positivity and inspiration to get us to the top, allowing us to adopt the mind over matter approach and they were with us all the way. I can honestly say the crew have had a huge impact on us as people and they have inspired us as much as the climb of beautiful Kilimanjaro itself.
Thoughts on Group Leader
I will be writing to Exodus separately from this review with a glowing and detailed letter of praise for the crew as I feel Justine was outstanding in his role as our group leader. He was thoroughly deserving of the award that he won and I would go further to say if there are any other awards in the world of mountain guiding on a national or international level I would not hesitate to nominate him. It was a real privilege to have met him and to have been guided up Kilimanjaro by him and as my family were on the trip with us I would like to say we felt so secure, safe and had complete trust and confidence in him. He was positive, encouraging, sensitive, thoughtful, very kind and was very well organised and thought of everything. To top this all off a great smile, personality and a brilliant sense of humour- a very inspirational man!
I would also like to point out that the entire team were first class. The other guides were also outstanding, I would like to point out that Mussa was a wonderful guide, also incredibly positive and supportive with also a lovely personality/sense of humour. We had complete trust in Mussa and he was so helpful and kind to us, again I will be writing to you to explain in detail. He would make an excellent tour leader too.
James aka King James was a fantastic guide who was very knowledgable, kind, helpful and again encouraging and supportive and kept giving us boosts of positivity. We were never rushed along,even though we were walking a slower pace to some of our fellow climbers. Again we had 100% trust in James and he would also make a brilliant lead guide.
It was an absolute pleasure to have 2 female guides, Anjela and Lucia who were both a pleasure to walk with. Again, both very supportive, kind and could not do enough for you. Both very smart and strong ladies who we had our trust in.
We feel so lucky to have had this team of 38 looking after us so well and we have so much praise and admiration for all the porters, cook etc. I cannot fault any of them, they were all brilliant. I will be mentioning a few of them in my letter.
Advice for Potential Travellers
I would say if you are thinking about doing this challenge, just book it! You will not regret it and I doubt you would find any other trip where you are looked after so well, I read that they 'have your backs' before we went on our trip and I can honestly say it is true. Go for it.
Suggestions
I will be writing to you in detail shortly, so not at this time.